The Peninsula
Qatar and two other Asian countries yesterday were presented with AFC Coaching Convention Awards.
China and Japan were the other two countries to receive the awards from Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the AFC President.
The awards were handed over to Qatar, China and Japan to recognise the progress of the coaching standards in these countries.
The AFC Coaching Convention Pro Level Certificates were presented to Saoud A. Aziz M A Al Mohannadi , the Vice President of the Qatar Football Assciation (QFA), Du Zhaocai, the Acting President of the Chinese FA, and Kohzo Tashima, the President of the Japan FA.
AFC Technical Director Andy Roxburgh said in a post on www.the-afc.com: “These awards show the progress of the three Member Associations in coaching and they are setting the standards across Asia. I am sure that others will now follow their lead.
“These are the first MAs who have been endorsed at the Pro Level – the highest level that can be attained and they have set the benchmark for the other 33 MAs who are already in the process.
“When an equivalent award was introduced in Europe some years ago, four of the first six went on to win the FIFA World Cup and one was a runners-up. So, this shows the importance of the awards – they are a vital ingredient in the development of coaching in the AFC Member Associations.”
Also yesterday, the AFC’s Executive Committee approved the appointment of representatives from Asia’s three Regional Associations as co-opted members on the AFC Executive Committee.
Meeting in Paris, the AFC Executive Committee, approved the appointment of Kanatbek Mamatov (Kyrgyz Republic) from the Central Asian Football Association. Anura De Silva (Sri Lanka) will represent the South Asian Football Federation with Pol. Gen. Somyot Poompanmoung (Thailand) assuming the co-opted seat for the ASEAN Football Federation.
The representatives from the East Asian Football Federation and West Asian Football Federation will be decided at a later date. The term of office for all the co-opted Executive Committee members from the Regional Associations is from 2019 until the 30th AFC Ordinary Congress, which will be held in 2020.
Shaikh Salman, the AFC President, said yesterday: “The AFC is only as strong as its Members and to increase that strength and to develop an even tighter bond with those Member Associations, we today make another bold step. We endorse the nominations of the AFC’s three Regional Associations to join our Executive Committee. This will be another important link between the AFC and its Members.”